200 CANARIES 



near perfect in the radiation and lay of its crest feather 

 as possible. Then a Crest with a large, heavy crest should 

 be mated to a Crest-bred with very wide, heavy feather 

 on its skull and bred from a bird with a good, veiny or 

 leafy crest. Then there is the Crest that is " homed," or 

 shows a tendency that way. The best mate for that 

 is a Crest-bred that is extra wide in skull and thicker 

 in neck, because " horns " are usually found on birds 

 that are long and somewhat narrow, or pinched in skull. 



The Value of the Turn-Back. 



The new hand must be very careful how he starts, and 

 before purchasing should consider what he is going to 

 breed. That is Clear Body Crests, Evenly-marked 

 Crests, or anything that may crop up in the way of 

 colour. In bu5dng stock he should see that the Plainheads 

 are possessed of good broad skulls, well-browed eyes, and 

 thick, stout bodies. The Crests should be carefully 

 examined. Many birds with long weeping crests are often 

 deficient in density of crest feather — that is, the under 

 feather is short, thin, and scanty. This cannot be ob- 

 served unless the crest is carefully lifted and turned back. 

 It is also wise to turn back the feathers on the skull of the 

 Plainheads, I have already pointed out that it sometimes 

 happens that birds possessing good brows are not well 

 feathered on the top of the skull. This is a most important 

 point in selecting stock, and should not be overlooked. 

 The crested birds should possess a good centre, and from 

 this centre the crest feather should radiate in a uniform 

 manner all round ; there should be no break in the feather, 

 which should lie quite thick and flat on the skull, drooping 

 evenly over the eyes, back, and neck. 



In all matings great attention must be paid to the 

 shape of the skull of the Crest-bred used. In every case 

 select the widest and most heavily feathered skulls, 

 and never, if it can be avoided, use a Crest-bred that is 

 long in head. You will never breed good Crested birds 

 from Crest-breds of this character. 



The Crest breeder has not only to produce good Crests, 

 but he has to keep them in good condition, or he will 

 never win prizes. Much attention must be paid in this 



